Santos in Oaxaca's Ancient ChurchesA study of santos in 16th-century and other churches in Oaxaca, Mexico
By Claire and Richard Stracke Funded by a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation. In
Santiago Cuilapan: |
St. James the Moorslayer |
Saint
James the Moorslayer:
The horse is white and has a cocked
head and alert expression; it is painted wood with
braided rope harness, leather saddle, metal stirrups,
and real hair for forelock and tail; it is newer
than the saint.
The position of the hands, shape of
the beard, gentle expression of the face, and the
downcast eyes suggest the statue was originally a Palm
Sunday Christ, though the mount is definitely not an
ass. Moreover, it is too small for the horse and the
feet do not fit in the stirrups. The helmet is too small
for the head. Local Name: Santiago Matamoros Basis for Identification: Knight in
armor on horseback with sword. Other characteristics: Red cape, yellow shirt, blue breeches, black boots. Site: Basilica of Santiago Cuilapan.
Location: Right of the main altar. Media and construction: Wood, gesso, paint, textile clothing. Boots added. Eyes seem too dull to be glass. 4' excluding horse. Size: About four feet (120 cm.)
excluding the horse. Comparable santos in Oaxaca: Tilantongo1,
Tilantongo2,
Tilantongo3 External Links: Next: Along
the south wall of the nave, a statue of a Dominican
martyr. Introduction to Santiago Cuilapan The photo shown here is licensed under the
Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported
license. You are free to share or remix it on two
conditions: first, that you attribute it to the
photographers, Claire and Richard Stracke, without
implying any approval of your work on their part;
second, that if you alter, transform, or build upon
this photo, you may distribute the resulting work only
under the same or similar license to this one. |